There is a song by Larry Graham entitled “One In A Million.”
The lyric says, “You are one in a million. A chance of a lifetime.”
Sandy Creek High School students Phaidra Buchanan and Krista Jackson, who have both been selected as semifinalists for the National Merit Scholar Award, are actually two in 1.6 million.
Each year there are 1.6 million entrants in the pool to be considered for National Merit Scholars. The pool is then broken down to the top 50,000 scholars. From there 34,000 are selected as commended and the top 16,000 are semifinalists. So, Buchanan and Jackson are both in the top 1 percent of all the seniors in the United States.
Paul Buchanan, Phaidra’s dad knew she was gifted at an early age.
“I noticed Phaidra was gifted by age two when she had mastered the alphabet and sight words as well as numbers.”
Similarly, Sharon Morris, Krista’s mom also knew her daughter was different.
“When Krista was four, I was driving and heard her in the back of the car reading road signs and billboard information. I was shocked!”
Jackson recalled how she felt when she heard about the honor.
“I was shocked with the surprise of the news. It was the last thing that I expected to hear that morning.”
Buchanan was also surprised by the announcement.
“I was dumbfounded. To be honest, it felt like everyone knew except me. Krista and I first thought it was funny because we had no idea what we were being congratulated for. Once I found out (and heard from my ecstatic parents after calling them in disbelief), I was just overflowing with excitement.”
Buchanan was thrilled when she learned she shared the honor with a friend.
“I could not be more happy for Krista. There’s no one more dedicated to her classes and her intense love of learning.”
The girls are already busy making their post-high school plans.
“Harvard University, University of Georgia, Swarthmore College, Brown University, and Vassar College. This is a very tentative list. I’m probably applying to them, but the list may change over time,” said Buchanan.
Jackson said her top college choices are the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of South Carolina, Yale, Mercer University, and the University of Pittsburgh.
“When I grow up, I want to become a family physician because I believe that I can contribute in the best way to society by healing others. I also hope that I can become a math tutor on the side because I want to help as many people as possible embrace the concept in order to see how helpful the subject can be in their lives. I love math because of its practical applications in numerous situations, from predicting the best plan of action with statistics to designing the next medical innovation through three-dimensional modeling,” said Jackson.
Buchanan sees her career path in education.
“I would love to teach secondary school or college. My teachers have always made a huge impact on my life and how I see the world, and I’d like to touch young people’s lives in that way.”
